Neil Bergquist has spent a decade watching fintech companies struggle with a fundamental user experience flaw that dates back to the early 2000s. The crypto industry’s reliance on payment widgets, those pop-up windows that redirect users away from apps and websites, demonstrates what the Coinme CEO calls an outdated approach that prioritizes convenience for developers over retention for businesses.
The problem becomes apparent when examining user behavior data. Studies show fintech apps maintain only 73% user retention after 30 days, dropping to roughly 65% by the three-month mark. For neobanks and crypto platforms that invest heavily in customer acquisition, losing users to clunky payment flows illustrates a significant business challenge. Companies like NOWPayments and DePay continue marketing widget solutions that promise “seamless integration” while creating the exact user disruption that modern platforms seek to avoid.
The PayPal Redirect Problem Persists
Bergquist draws parallels between today’s crypto widgets and the payment experiences that dominated early e-commerce. “The PayPal type flow is like a widget flow where you might be on eBay and you want to buy something, but then, when you click buy, this PayPal window comes up, and then you’ve got to log in or create an account,” he explains from his Seattle office.
This redirect model, while functional, breaks the user journey at its most critical moment. Research from UXDA identifies payment redirections as a primary cause of transaction abandonment, noting that “the human brain perceives the whole process as a continuous flow” and redirections create confusion that leads users to abandon purchases.
The issue becomes more pronounced for platforms managing millions of users. “Partners don’t like having a widget type solution because if you’re a neobank and you have tens of millions of users, you want to keep them within the neobank ecosystem, where they are not going to some third party,” Bergquist notes. Financial platforms spend considerable resources building trust and brand recognition, only to potentially lose customers during payment handoffs to external providers.
The Native Integration Alternative
Coinme’s approach eliminates the redirect entirely through what Bergquist describes as a white-labeled experience that keeps users within their chosen platform. “We can actually create this really amazing, sleek, integrated, white-labeled user experience, all within your mobile app or website, and people really light up when they see that.”
The technical implementation relies on Coinme’s Crypto-as-a-Service platform, which provides enterprise APIs that handle compliance, payment processing, and custody functions behind the scenes. Partners integrate directly with Coinme’s infrastructure while maintaining complete control over the user interface and brand experience.
This architecture addresses multiple pain points simultaneously. Users complete transactions without leaving their preferred platform, companies maintain brand consistency throughout the payment flow, and developers access pre-built compliance infrastructure without building regulatory frameworks from scratch. The system manages Know Your Customer verification, anti-money laundering monitoring, and state-specific regulatory requirements through automated processes that operate transparently to end users.
Integration timelines illustrate another significant advantage. “An integration timeline can be weeks,” Bergquist explains, contrasting this with the months typically required for custom crypto infrastructure development. The API-first design allows platforms to deploy crypto capabilities without hiring specialized blockchain developers or obtaining their own money transmitter licenses across multiple states.
Exodus Wallet: A Case Study in Native Implementation
The partnership between Coinme and Exodus Wallet demonstrates the native integration approach in practice. Launched as XO Pay, the service enables Exodus users to purchase cryptocurrency directly within their wallet application without external redirects or third-party account creation.
“By creating a Web2 checkout experience in a Web3 self-custody wallet, Exodus has set a new bar for crypto user experience,” Bergquist observes. The integration supports major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins, with payment options including Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.
The technical achievement extends beyond user experience improvements. Exodus users maintain complete control over their private keys while accessing simplified purchase flows typically associated with custodial exchanges. This combination of self-custody security with streamlined onboarding addresses a persistent challenge in cryptocurrency adoption.
“XO Pay represents our commitment to making cryptocurrency more accessible to everyday customers,” said JP Richardson, Co-Founder and CEO of Exodus. “By integrating the purchasing process directly into our mobile wallet, we’re removing barriers and simplifying the journey from fiat to crypto, and back.”
Compliance Infrastructure as Competitive Advantage
Bergquist’s emphasis on regulatory compliance since Coinme’s founding has created infrastructure advantages that become apparent in partner integrations. The company holds 37 money transmitter licenses to operate in 48 states, enabling partners to offer crypto services nationally through a single API connection rather than navigating state-by-state licensing requirements independently.
The compliance layer operates continuously, monitoring transactions for suspicious activity and maintaining blockchain analysis capabilities that identify high-risk wallet addresses. These functions happen automatically, allowing partner platforms to focus on user experience design while Coinme handles regulatory obligations.
This infrastructure becomes particularly valuable for traditional financial institutions exploring crypto integration. Banks and neobanks can test crypto services without disrupting existing compliance frameworks or investing in specialized regulatory expertise. The approach reduces both technical complexity and regulatory risk for institutions that might otherwise avoid cryptocurrency offerings entirely.
Market Response and Industry Implications
The shift toward native integration reflects broader changes in how financial technology companies approach user experience design. Traditional widget providers like Stripe and PayPal built their businesses during an era when redirects were acceptable trade-offs for payment functionality. Current market conditions favor platforms that maintain user engagement throughout transaction processes.
Industry analysts project the global blockchain-as-a-service market will reach $84.6 billion by 2031, growing at 59.3% annually. This growth reflects increasing demand for infrastructure solutions that enable crypto integration without requiring specialized development teams.
The competitive implications extend beyond crypto-specific applications. Traditional payment processors face pressure to develop similar native integration capabilities as more platforms prioritize user retention over implementation simplicity. Companies that continue relying on redirect-based payment flows may find themselves at a disadvantage as user expectations shift toward seamless, brand-consistent experiences.
Coinme’s approach suggests the cryptocurrency industry is maturing beyond its early experimental phase, where technical functionality often took precedence over user experience considerations. The focus on native integration reflects a recognition that sustainable growth requires meeting user expectations established by mainstream fintech applications rather than asking users to accept suboptimal experiences unique to cryptocurrency transactions.